908 


INNESS 


PRICE,  20  CENTS 


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Jggueftjlipntli  Im 


INNESS 


PART  102  ■■  ■ VOLUME  9 


3ate9anO<IuildC[ompany, 

Bibligf)er3 

42-C[l)aiinqi^treEt 


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MASTERS  IN  ART 

A SERIES  OF  ILLUSTRATED 
MONOGRAPHS:  ISSUED  MONTHLY 


PART  102  JUNE  VOLUME  9 


CONTENTS 


Plate  I. 

Peace  and  Plenty 

Plate  II. 

The  Delaware  Valley 

Plate  III. 

Sunset,  Etretat 

Owned  b 

Plate  IV. 

The  Alban  Hills 

- ; ■ ^ 

Plate  V. 

Summer,  Medfield,  Mass. 

1 1 

Ow 

Plate  VI. 

The  Close  of  Day 

Owned 

Plate  VII. 

The  Goose  Girl 

Own 

Plate  VIII. 

The  Coming  Storm 

Plate  IX. 

Georgia  Pines 

Plate  X. 

The  Clouded  Sun 

Portrait  of  Inness 
The  Life  of  Inness 
The  Art  of  Inness 

Criticisms  by  Isham,  Trumble,  Daingerfield,  Caffin 
The  Works  of  Inness : Descriptions  of  the  Plates  and  a List  > 
Inness  Bibliography 

Photo-engravings  by  Suffolk  Engraving  and  Electrotyping  Co.:  Boston.  Press 
A complete  index  for  previous  numbers  will  be  found  in  the  Reader'"  s Guide  to  Periodical  L 


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PEOPERTY  OF  THE  METROPOLITAN  MUSEUM,  NEW  YORK 


SUNSET,  ETEETAT 
OWNED  BY  P.  C.  & N.  M.  YOSE 


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PHOTOGHAPH  OF  INNESS  BY  BRADY,  SEW  YORK 

The  following  quotation  concerning  this  likeness  of  Inness  is  by  Mr.  J.  W.  McSpadden  : 
“ Merely  to  look  at  the  portrait  of  this  man  with  his  lion-like  mane  and  careless  attire 
suggests  the  shock  of  battle.  Trumble  thus  describes  him  : ‘ He  was  a man  of  the 

middle  stature,  of  a spare  frame,  with  a face  full  of  character,  and  gray,  penetrating 
eyes.  He  wore  the  thin  beard  of  a man  whose  face  had  never  known  the  touch  of 
the  razor,  and  his  broad  brow  was  framed  in  a mass  of  long,  and  always  disorderly, 
hair.  He  was  careless  in  his  dress,  so  that  the  picturesque  ensemble  of  head  and  figure 
was  not  disturbed.  His  movements  were  rapid  with  nervous  energy,  and  when  he 
became  interested  in  conversation  or  discussion  his  gestures  were  instinctively  appro- 
priate, and,  like  the  action  of  his  body,  full  of  spirit.’ 

[234] 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


BORN  1 825:  DIED  1894 
AMERICAN  SCHOOL 

GEORGE  INNESS,  America's  greatest  landscape-painter,  was  born 
May  i,  1825,  on  a farm  two  miles  from  Newburgh,  New  York,  where 
his  father  had  retired  on  account  of  ill  health.  George  was  the  fifth  of  a family 
of  thirteen  children,  and  of  Scotch  descent  on  his  father’s  side.  While  he  was 
still  an  infant  his  father  moved  his  family  in  a sloop  — - as  it  was  before  the 
days  of  steamboats  — to  New  York  City,  to  resume  the  grocery  business, 
but  when  his  son  George  was  only  five  years  old,  was  again  obliged  to  give 
up  his  business  and  move  to  a farm  in  the  outskirts  of  Newark,  New  Jersey, 
the  present  site  of  which  is  now  in  the  center  of  the  city’s  manufacturing  dis- 
trict. Here  the  boyhood  of  the  future  artist  was  spent. 

Inness  was  a very  nervous,  delicate  child,  subject  to  fearful  dreams  at 
night.  He  used  to  get  up  and  rush  around  the  house  until  sufficiently  calmed 
to  go  to  sleep  again.  He  was  sent  to  the  town  academy,  but  was  soon  dis- 
missed, as  he  did  not  take  to  schooling,  and  covered  his  books  with  drawings. 
His  father  then  set  him  up  in  the  grocery  business,  but  in  a little  more  than  a 
month’s  time  the  little  shop  was  given  up,  as  the  young  lad  had  no  more  taste 
for  trade  than  for  schooling.  The  father  then  acceded  to  the  boy’s  request 
to  study  drawing,  and  he  was  placed  under  the  instruction  of  a local  teacher, 
Mr.  Barker,  until  the  latter  confessed  that  he  had  taught  him  all  he  knew. 
His  earnestness  of  purpose  is  well  shown  in  his  oft-quoted  words  of  this  time: 
“I  think  the  best  thing  that  can  happen  to  a boy  is  to  have  some  honest  ambi- 
tion stirred  up  in  him,  no  matter  how  trifling  it  may  be.” 

The  boy  now  wished  to  study  engraving,  an  occupation  then  fairly  remu- 
nerative, and  one  with  which  Durand,  Kensett,  and  many  another  American 
artist  of  those  early  days  began  his  artistic  career.  George,  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen, was  accordingly  placed  with  Sherman  and  Smith,  of  New  York,  map- 
engravers;  but  the  confinement  told  upon  his  health,  and  in  about  a year’s  time 
he  was  obliged  to  give  up  the  work.  He  had  now  become  interested  in  color 
and  wished  to  follow  the  vocation  of  the  painter,  arguing  with  his  father  that 
if  he  succeeded  he  could  make  a better  livelihood  than  in  any  other  profession 
that  his  health  would  allow  him  to  follow.  His  father,  in  a spirit  very  liberal 
for  the  time,  allowed  him  to  have  his  way,  and  to  engage  in  a profession  not 

[235] 


24 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


very  highly  thought  of  in  the  forties.  He,  accordingly,  became  the  pupil,  for 
a very  short  time,  ot  Regis  Gignoux,  a French  landscape-painter,  who  had 
recently  set  up  a studio  in  New  York.  Although  only  nine  years  the  senior  of 
Inness,  he  had  studied  at  the  Ecole  des  Beaux-Arts  in  Paris,  and  also  with 
Delaroche.  1 his  was  the  only  definite  instruction  in  the  art  of  painting  that 
Inness  ever  had,  and  could  not  have  greatly  affected  his  art,  as  it  was  of  so 
short  duration,  except  to  give  him  some  knowledge  of  mediums  and  the  mix- 
ing of  colors. 

Inness  was  essentially  self-taught.  He  was  now  twenty  years  of  age,  and 
his  whole  life  henceforth  may  be  considered  as  one  devoted  to  experiment 
and  the  observation  and  study  of  nature.  He  never  had  pupils,  although  in 
his  later  years  he  was  always  very  ready  to  help  young  artists.  He  once 
humorously  replied  to  Mr.  Alfred  Trumble,  who  asked  him  if  he  had  had 
many  pupils : “ 1 have  had  one  for  a very  long  time,  and  he  is  more  than  enough 
for  me.  The  more  I teach  him  the  less  he  knows;  and  the  older  he  grows  the 
farther  he  is  from  what  he  ought  to  be.” 

In  1843  his  father  had  remarried  and  moved  back  to  New  York.  Inness 
now  set  up  a studio  for  himself  in  the  city,  boarding  at  the  Astor  House  and 
paying  for  his  board  with  pictures.  These  early  experiments  in  painting  have 
been  compared  to  colored  engravings.  Many  of  them  were  painted  at  the 
home  of  his  brother,  James  A.  Inness,  then  living  at  Pottsville,  Pennsylvania. 

The  artist  has  recounted  to  friends  an  incident  of  these  early  years  which  is 
interesting  in  the  light  of  his  later  development.  He  saw  for  the  first  time,  in 
a print-shop  window,  an  engraving  after  some  old  master.  He  did  not  re- 
member what  it  was,  and  he  said,  “I  could  not  then  analyze  that  which  at- 
tracted me  in  it,  but  it  fascinated  me.  The  print-seller  showed  me  some 
others,  and  they  repeated  the  same  sensation  in  me.  There  was  a power  of 
motive,  a bigness  of  grasp,  in  them.  They  were  nature,  rendered  grand  in- 
stead of  being  belittled  by  trifling  detail  and  petty  execution.  I commenced 
to  take  them  out  to  nature  with  me,  to  compare  them  with  her  as  she  really 
appeared,  and  the  light  began  to  dawn.” 

Soon  Inness  became  better  known,  the  American  Art  Union  began  to  buy 
his  pictures,  and  he  found  his  first  patron  in  a dry-goods  auctioneer,  Ogden 
Haggerty,  who  furnished  him  with  the  means  for  his  first  trip  to  Europe,  in 
1847.  The  artist  went  from  England  to  Rome,  where  he  spent  more  than  a 
year.  “He  here  commenced,”  writes  Mr.  Trumble,  “to  really  form  what 
might  be  called  a style  — a style  in  which  one  can  distinguish  the  influence 
of  the  classic  art  of  the  landscape  masters  of  the  past,  but  which  still  has  the 
impress  of  a certain  individuality.  The  effect  which  this  Italian  sojourn  had 
upon  him  was  much  akin  to  that  which  the  Englishman,  Richard  Wilson, 
had  experienced  a century  before.” 

Although  scarcely  able  to  support  himself,  Inness  was  married  at  an  early 
age;  but  his  wife  lived  only  about  six  months,  dying  of  consumption  through 
a cold  contracted  on  her  wedding-day.  In  1850  he  was  married  a second 
time,  and  in  1851  he  made  his  second  visit  to  Europe,  going  directly  to  France, 
where  he  found  much  in  his  own  art  akin  to  that  of  the  Barbizon  masters,  who 

[236] 


I N N E S S 


25 


were  just  beginning  to  be  recognized  and  appreciated  by  their  own  govern- 
ment and  people.  As  Mr.  Edwin  Wiley  writes: 

“The  art  of  George  Inness  was  wholly  a matter  of  inward  growth  and  de- 
velopment. He  worked  out  his  ideals  almost  without  the  help  of  external  in- 
fluences. It  is  true  that  a little  group  of  painters  in  the  Forest  of  Fontaine- 
bleau were  devotedly  at  work  trying  to  solve  the  same  problems  as  those 
confronting  him,  and  in  much  the  same  way;  but  France  was  a long,  long 
way  from  America  in  those  days,  and  Inness  never  knew  Corot,  Millet,  Rous- 
seau, and  Daubigny  until  after  his  own  style  had  been  definitely  formed. 
The  career  of  our  artist,  much  like  that  of  those  daring  battlers  for  truth  in 
art,  was  marked  by  distressing  and  hampering  conditions.  Not  the  least  of 
these  was  his  artistic  isolation.  The  members  of  the  Barbizon  school  had  had 
each  other’s  sympathy  and  cooperation,  and  the  struggle  was  rendered  less 
hard;  but  Inness  was  forced  to  work  alone.  This  fact,  in  addition  to  ill  health, 
poverty,  and  the  indifference  of  the  public,  resulted  in  prolonging  his  days  of 
experiment  and  apprenticeship  — whether  for  his  own  good  or  detriment 
we  have  no  power  to  judge.  But  however  long  and  sad  his  days  of  waiting 
may  have  been,  they  only  caused  him  to  hold  his  ideals  closer  to  his  heart, 
with  the  result  that  he  gained  appreciation  and  a position  in  American  art,  just 
in  the  same  way  that  Daubigny  and  his  friends  obtained  their  tardy  recogni- 
tion in  France.  Tike  them,  he  at  last  came  to  his  own  and  ended  his  days  in 
the  knowledge  of  efforts  crowned  with  success,  assured  that  he  had  left  be- 
hind him  an  undying  influence  in  his  work,  his  ideals,  and  his  example.  . . . 

“This  little  coterie  of  reformers  and  enthusiasts  gave  Inness  great  en- 
couragement, for  he  saw  that  they  had  been  working  hand  in  hand  for  the 
very  things  to  which  he  had  devoted  his  isolated  and  introspective  life.  In 
their  work  he  found  a tender  and  thoroughly  sincere  portrayal  of  nature, 
coupled  with  an  art  hitherto  beyond  his  most  extravagant  dreams.  He  studied 
their  work,  therefore,  not  as  a copyist,  but  from  the  standpoint  of  the  creator. 
He  analyzed  it  in  every  detail,  and  his  fine  insight  and  appreciation  soon  gave 
him  all  its  secrets.  The  result  of  this  study  soon  made  itself  apparent  in  his 
own  work,  for  it  assumed  a new  phase.  He  began  to  pay  less  attention  to 
detail,  and  more  to  the  mass  and  the  movement;  he  began  to  achieve  an  ease 
of  execution,  a firmness  of  texture,  and  a vitality  not  to  be  found  in  his  earlier 
efforts.” 

For  a time  on  his  return  he  resided  in  Brooklyn,  but  then  moved  to  Med- 
field,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  suburbs  of  Boston,  thinking  that  he  might 
meet  with  more  recognition  than  in  New  York.  Here  he  remained  five  years, 
or  until  the  close  of  the  Civil  War.  He  was  intensely  interested  in  the  struggle 
between  the  North  and  the  South,  became  an  ardent  abolitionist,  and  organ- 
ized a company  to  go  to  the  front,  but  was  prevented  from  joining  it  by  lack 
of  physique.  He  was  induced  to  remove  to  Eagleswood,  New  Jersey,  near 
Perth  Amboy,  by  Marcus  Spring,  who  was  head  of  a military  school,  and 
practically  the  founder  of  the  town.  A patron  of  William  Page,  the  artist  and 
friend  of  Inness,  Spring  soon  took  up  the  latter  artist,  and  acted  as  an  agent 
in  disposing  of  his  pictures,  furnishing  him  with  the  means  of  support. 

[23  7 ] 


26 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


In  1871  Inness  made  his  fourth  trip  to  Europe,  remaining  four  years, 
most  of  the  time  in  or  near  Rome.  “The  pictures  which  he  produced  during 
this  period  are  much  broader  and  simpler  in  treatment  than  many  which 
preceded  them,  and  more  studied  in  style,”  writes  Mr.  Trumble.  “The 
peculiar  character  of  the  Italian  scenes  in  which  he  found  himself,  their  ro- 
mantic historical  associations  and  classical  atmosphere,  were  likely  to  pro- 
duce an  impression  on  his  mind  which  would  repeat  itself  in  his  work.  Even 
when  at  his  best  in  his  European  subjects  he  was  never  really  himself,  as  he 
was  when  he  treated  our  native  scenery;  never  upon  other  motives  did  his 
personality  stamp  itself  so  strongly.” 

It  was  in  the  years  immediately  following  this  prolonged  stay  abroad  that, 
according  to  many  critics,  his  best  canvases  were  painted,  as  ‘St.  Peter’s, 
Rome,  from  the  Tiber;’  ‘Summer,  Medfield,  Massachusetts’  (Plate  v);  ‘The 
Homestead;’  and  ‘Autumn  Morning,’  though  other  critics  prefer  the  broader, 
more  synthetic  treatment  of  later  years. 

He  spent  the  first  year  after  his  return  in  Boston;  then  had  a studio  in  New 
York,  at  West  Fifty-fifth  Street,  next  that  of  his  son-in-law,  Jonathan  Scott 
Hartley,  the  sculptor,  who,  by  the  way,  has  made  an  excellent  portrait  bust 
of  Inness.  Finally,  he  removed  to  the  old  Dodge  mansion  in  Montclair,  New 
jersey,  a roomy  frame  house  on  Grove  Street,  with  a view  across  country  to 
the  “Mountain,”  where  many  of  his  finest  pictures  were  painted,  and  where 
he  lived  the  rest  of  his  life  amid  congenial  surroundings,  varied  by  travel  in 
the  various  States  of  the  Union. 

Always  interested  in  religion  and  theological  discussion,  in  his  later  years, 
like  his  friend  William  Page,  he  became  a Swedenborgian.  Three  things 
greatly  interested  him, — art,  religion,  and  the  single-tax  movement.  Long 
walks  and  either  long  discussions  after  his  day’s  work  was  done,  or  hours 
spent  in  writing  out  his  thoughts,  were  his  only  relaxations. 

His  brother,  in  furnishing  some  details  of  his  life  to  Mr.  Trumble,  and 
speaking  of  his  metaphysical  labors,  said:  “These  were  taken  up  more  as  a 
relaxation  after  excessive  efforts  in  the  field  of  his  art  than  as  a regular  pur- 
suit. However,  he  was  at  all  times  fond  of  discussion  on  social  and  theological 
problems,  and  at  one  time  told  me  that  in  his  early  days,  if  his  health  had 
permitted,  he  would  have  become  absorbed  in  metaphysical  studies.  His 
environment  during  his  childhood  and  youth  was  extremely  well  calculated 
to  give  such  a tendency  to  his  active  temperament  and  brain.  His  mother, 
who  died  in  his  fifteenth  year,  was  a Methodist,  and  brought  up  her  children 
in  strict  compliance  with  the  discipline  and  requirements  of  the  Methodism 
of  that  day;  his  aunt,  who  afterward  became  his  stepmother,  was  as  strict  a 
Baptist  and  an  earnest  Controversialist;  whilst  their  brother,  his  uncle,  was 
as  firm  a Universalist  and  as  uncompromising  in  his  belief.  So  religious 
topics  became  almost  a daily  subject  of  conversation,  dispute;  and  a mind  of 
George’s  character  would  naturally  commence  early  in  life  an  investigation 
of  the  points  in  dispute,  and  to  search  the  scriptures  for  the  truths  thereof, 
probably  laying  thereby  the  foundation  of  the  Swedenborgian  faith,  to  which 
he  became  attached  in  later  years.” 


[23  8] 


I N N E S S 


27 


And  Mr.  Trumble  writes:  “The  grand  and  distinctive  principle  of  the  Swe- 
denborgian  theology,  next  to  the  doctrine  of  the  divine  humanity,  is  the  doc- 
trine of  life.  According  to  this  latter,  God  alone  lives.  All  creation,  man  in- 
cluded, is  dead.  Our  apparent  life,  the  life  of  the  earth  itself,  is  but  the  divine 
presence,  which  exists  in  individuals  and  in  objects  in  different  degrees;  in 
trees,  plants,  stones,  the  waters,  air  and  sky.  It  was  the  later  belief  of  George 
Inness  that  he  worked  ever  under  the  instruction  of  a divine  power  which 
gave  direction  to  his  labor  and  guided  him  to  a comprehension  of  the  signifi- 
cance of  what  he  painted,  and  to  the  truthful  expression  of  it.” 

The  artist  once  said  to  Mr.  George  W.  Sheldon:  “I  would  not  give  a fig 
for  art  ideas  except  as  they  represent  what  I perceive  behind  them;  and  I love 
to  think  most  of  what  I,  in  common  with  all  men,  need  most  — the  good  of 
our  practice  in  the  art  of  life.  Rivers,  streams,  the  rippling  brook,  the  hill- 
side, the  sky,  clouds  — all  things  we  see  — will  convey  the  sentiment  of  the 
highest  art  if  we  are  in  the  love  of  God  and  the  desire  of  truth.” 

It  was  the  custom  of  the  artist  to  work  twelve  or  fifteen  hours  at  the  easel. 
He  worked  standing,  and  very  rapidly  at  first,  but  went  slowly  and  more 
slowly  as  the  work  progressed  and  he  realized  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  the 
desired  results.  He  did  not  object  to  visitors,  so  completely  absorbed  was  he 
in  his  work,  and  he  talked  as  he  worked.  In  1853  he  was  made  an  associate 
of  the  National  Academy,  and  a full  member  in  1868.  Eight  or  ten  years 
later,  or  upon  his  return  from  Europe,  the  younger  artists  in  revolt  against 
the  conservatism  of  the  National  Academy  formed  themselves  into  the  ‘So- 
ciety of  American  Artists.’  Inness  was  shortly  elected  to  join,  and  although 
belonging  to  both  societies,  he  never  entered  into  the  feuds  or  activities  of 
either.  He  was  accustomed  to  send  in  pictures  for  exhibition  in  both,  but  he 
scorned  medals  and  awards  of  juries.  He  reminds  us  of  Rousseau  in  the  in- 
clination of  his  later  years  never  to  finish  his  pictures,  sometimes  entirely 
obliterating  one  picture  by  painting  another  over  it.  Many  of  his  canvases 
were  more  or  less  experimental. 

Like  many  men  of  artistic  temperament,  he  had  no  concern  for,  and  even 
a disdain  of,  every-day  finance.  He  frankly  admitted  that  he  thought  mer- 
chants existed  to  support  artists.  For  years  the  sale  of  his  pictures  brought 
him  no  adequate  return.  At  one  time  his  three  brothers  undertook  to  finance 
him,  and  in  later  years,  when  he  was  lifted  above  all  pecuniary  difficulties, 
his  family  had  to  protect  him  from  impostors. 

About  1875  Thomas  B.  Clarke  became  interested  in  his  work,  and  a con- 
stant collector  of  his  pictures.  When  the  noted  amateur  disposed  of  his 
famous  collection  of  pictures  by  American  artists,  in  1899,  there  were  no  less 
than  thirty-five  canvases  by  Inness  put  up  at  auction,  among  them  some  of  the 
finest  examples  of  his  middle  and  late  period;  as,  ‘The  Gray,  Lowery  Day,’ 
‘Nine  O’Clock,’  ‘Winter  Morning,  Montclair,’  ‘The  Close  of  Day.’ 

The  artist  died  at  the  Bridge  of  Allan,  while  traveling  in  Scotland,  on 
August  3,  1894.  His  body  was  brought  back  to  this  country  and  a public 
funeral  was  held,  on  August  23,  at  the  National  Academy  of  Design.  The 
painter  had  constantly  grown  in  public  esteem  since  his  early  years.  In  1885 

[239] 


28 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


a collection  of  his  works  had  been  exhibited  at  the  American  Art  Galleries, 
and  the  winter  after  his  death  his  executors  held  an  auction  sale  of  the  con- 
tents ol  his  studio,  which  numbered  over  two  hundred  and  forty  canvases, 
many  of  them  unfinished  sketches  and  experimental  pieces,  but  the  total  of 
the  three  days’  sale  netted  $108,670. 

The  artist  was  survived  by  his  wife;  a son,  George  Inness,  Junior,  also  a 
landscape-painter  of  note;  and  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Jonathan  Scott  Hartley. 

Mr.  Trumble  draws  the  following  pleasing  picture  of  the  artist’s  last  years 
in  Montclair:  “He  had  sailed  his  bark  through  troubled  waters,  ruffled  by 
many  storms,  to  a safe  and  restful  haven.  He  lived  like  a patriarch,  with  his 
son  and  daughter  and  their  families  for  neighbors.  He  was  secure  in  the 
world’s  esteem  and  honor,  and  in  the  love  and  respect  of  faithful  friends. 
He  had  won,  by  fifty  years  of  devotion  to  his  art  and  fidelity  to  his  conscience, 
his  place  at  the  head  of  the  art  of  the  century.  The  most  ambitious  of  men 
would  desire  no  more;  yet,  his  only  ambition,  as  he  watched  from  his  cottage 
door  the  dawn  and  sunset,  the  burning  noonday  and  the  serene  splendor  of 
the  moonlight,  the  summer  storm  rolling  down  the  hillsides,  and  the  winter 
tempest  driving  in  shrill  blasts  over  wastes  of  snow,  was  to  penetrate  the  great 
secret  they  embodied,  and  to  fathom  in  them  the  mysterious  heart  that  stirs 
the  universe.” 


Cfit  art  of  fitness 

SAMUEL  ISHAM  ‘THE  HISTORY  OF  AMERICAN  PAINTING’ 

INNESS’S  painting  never  became  rigid.  It  was  altering  and  developing 
to  the  last,  even  at  the  same  date  he  worked  in  different  manners  to  suit 
his  subjects  and  said  himself  that  he  “seemed  to  have  two  opposing  styles  — 
one  impetuous  and  eager,  the  other  classical  and  elegant.”  He  painted  both 
small  canvases  and  also  large  works  like  the  ‘ Barberini  Pines’  or  the  ‘Peace 
and  Plenty’  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum.  His  variety  was  great.  All  seasons 
of  the  year,  all  times  of  the  day,  all  tempers  of  the  sky,  were  represented  not 
mechanically,  but  with  a new  formula  discovered  for  each.  He  preferred  the 
rich  tones  of  autumn  and  sunset;  but  he  could  take  a bank  of  June  foliage 
on  a gray  day  when  there  were  no  strong  shadows,  when  grass  and  leaves 
were  alike  of  the  same  brilliant,  uncompromising  green,  and  without  mitiga- 
tion of  the  brilliancy  nor  laborious  drawing  of  detail  make  the  whole  mass 
firm,  yet  soft  and  dewy  with  infinitely  delicate  gradations  of  tone  and  shadow. 
His  earliest  work  shows  much  minuteness,  and  there  is  sometimes  a shock  of 
surprise  at  finding  his  signature  on  a canvas  with  a blue  mountain,  hard  and 
sharp  against  a bright  sky,  with  a group  of  anaemic  trees  in  the  foreground. 
But  he  soon  gained  richness  of  tone  and  breadth  of  handling,  and  there  are 
not  wanting  those  who  prefer  pictures  of  his  middle  period,  like  the  small 
thunder-storms  painted  at  Medford,  Massachusetts,  with  their  brilliancy 
and  their  enamel-like  texture,  to  the  looser,  freer  work  of  his  later  years. 
They  have  not  the  same  mastery,  however.  The  structure  is  not  so  solid;  the 

[24  0] 


I N N E S S 


29 


harmony  is  not  so  true.  In  his  middle  period,  frequently  a light  spot,  a group 
of  cattle,  a sad  on  a river,  is  out  of  value,  strikes  the  eye  with  too  great  insist- 
ence. His  late  work  holds  together  flawlessly. 

His  method  of  painting  was  to  cover  the  whole  canvas  with  a thin  glaze  of 
Indian  red,  to  touch  in  the  main  masses  of  shadow  in  black,  and  then  to  work 
on  this  foundation,  gradually  bringing  the  whole  picture  forward  by  constant 
working  over.  As  a reasoner  and  theorizer  on  his  art  he  had  many  maxims 
for  his  work,  the  most  important  being  that  the  sky  should  be  given  as  half- 
tone against  which  both  the  lights  and  darks  of  the  picture  should  contrast. 
This  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  his  canvases  seem  richer  and  more  decorative 
than  those  of  the  White  Mountain  school,  who  usually  strove  to  key  the  sky 
up  to  the  lightest  possible  tone.  Inness’s  practice  was  also  that  of  Ruisdael, 
and  Fromentin  has  noted  how  admirably  it  makes  the  pictures  of  the  latter 
set  in  the  gold  of  the  frames,  though  it  was  probably  only  indirectly  through 
the  French  landscape-painters,  the  so-called  Fontainebleau  school,  that  Inness 
received  the  Dutch  tradition.  It  is  with  these  last  that  he  is  affiliated,  and 
his  pictures  hang  harmoniously  with  theirs  and  hold  their  own  in  the  com- 
pany. In  some  of  his  later  work  there  may  be  a vagueness,  a lack  of  firmness. 
Some  of  the  things  sold  from  his  studio  after  his  death  he  might  have  worked 
on  more,  but  it  is  probable  that  he  found,  as  he  said  about  Corot,  that  more 
objective  force  meant  weakening  or  loss  of  that  sentiment  which  was  to  him 
the  reason  for  the  picture.  Like  the  Greek,  he  felt  the  god  in  the  stream  or 
grove,  the  immanent  presence  of  superhuman  powers,  and  it  is  his  crowning 
merit  that  he  does  succeed  to  a certain  extent  in  “reproducing  in  other  minds 
the  impression  which  the  scene  made  upon  him.” 

Inness  had  less  popular  vogue  than  most  of  the  men  around  him.  Until 
the  end  of  his  life  his  larger  pictures  sold  with  difficulty,  and  the  newspapers 
served  him  no  such  adulation  as  they  gave  to  Church  or  Bierstadt.  It  is 
curious,  therefore,  that  Wyant  should  have  heard  of  him  and  should  have 
made  the  journey  from  Cincinnati  to  see  him  rather  than  another.  . . . 

With  these  three  men  — Inness,  Wyant,  and  Martin  — the  early  American 
Landscape  school  culminates.  If  we  insist  on  unprofitable  comparisons  and 
claim  for  any  of  our  art  an  equality  with  what  was  best  in  contemporary 
Europe  — a real  equality,  not  one  hedged  and  bolstered  up  with  apologetic 
references  to  the  limitations  of  our  position  — it  is  these  men  that  we  must 
put  forward,  for  the  long  period  between  the  death  of  Stuart  and  the  rise  of 
the  present  school.  The  essentials  of  greatness  they  seem  to  have  had  — deep 
feeling  which  took  a pictorial  form,  ample  knowledge,  complete  mastery  of 
their  material,  and  for  each  a style,  personal  and  distinguished,  which  burst 
through  that  commonplace  which  fetters  us  all. 

ALFRED  TRUMBLE  ‘GEORGE  INNESS:  A MEMORIAL’ 

THE  representative  work  of  George  Inness  — that  is  to  say,  the  work  in 
which  he  figures  with  his  most  intense  and  distinctive  individuality — is 
that  which  exhibits  itself  in  native  subjects.  The  range  of  these  is  very  wide.  It 
extends  practically  from  Canada  to  Mexico  and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 

[241] 


30 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


Pacific.  New  Jersey,  New  York,  and  New  England,  which,  in  the  order 
noted,  formed  his  first  fields  of  study,  seem  always  to  have  remained  his 
favorites.  That  a subject  was  ever  with  him  a matter  of  deliberate  selection  is 
doubtful.  His  choice  depended  upon  impulse.  He  painted  in  sight  of  Mount 
Washington  for  days,  until,  upon  one  special  day,  some  unusual  effect  of 
hour  or  weather  on  the  mountain  itself  impressed  him,  and  he  painted  it. 
He  saw  Niagara  a dozen  or  a score  of  times  before  it  had  grown  into  him  as 
the  subject  of  a picture.  Even  when  he  went  so  far  as  to  make  a sketch  or 
study  of  a spot,  this  memorandum  might  lie  by  for  years  before  he  took  it  up 
to  work  upon,  or  it  might  never  be  touched  again. 

In  a man  of  less  profound  thought,  of  less  persistent  self-examination,  of 
less  rigorous  exploration  of  the  causes  from  which  effects  spring,  this  indecision 
might  have  been  laid  to  mere  whim.  With  him  it  proceeded  from  the  absolute 
necessity  he  was  under  of  experiencing  an  emotion.  He  was  past-master  of 
all  the  technical  resources  of  his  art.  He  had  carried  his  experiments  in  the 
possibilities  of  the  palette  to  an  almost  incredible  length.  He  could  draw 
with  accuracy  and  strength.  Yet  he  could  not,  by  any  exercise  of  will,  have 
compelled  himself  to  paint  what  he  did  not  feel  — to  produce  mechanically 
what  took  no  grasp  upon  his  heart.  A poet  may  sometimes  be  obscure,  may 
fail  in  attaining  to  his  highest  pitch  of  eloquence,  but  he  cannot  write  doggerel 
— not  from  inability  to  jingle  words  together,  but  from  inability  to  force 
himself  to  the  odious  task.  In  a similar  sense  George  Inness  could  not  paint 
doggerel.  He  might  not  always  succeed  in  a picture.  He  sometimes,  even 
oftentimes,  did  not.  But  it  is  certain  that  in  every  picture  which  he  gave  out 
in  his  later  years  he  believed  that  he  had  mastered  its  spirit,  or  had  as  nearly 
mastered  it  as  lay  within  his  power. 

When  he  was  mistaken  in  this  it  was  simply  because  he  had  unconsciously 
miscalculated  the  depth  and  receptiveness  of  his  own  emotions,  or,  according 
to  his  own  doctrine,  because  he  had  failed  to  purify  himself  to  the  standard 
of  his  subject,  and  therefore  was  neither  capable  of  reaching  its  vital  spirit 
nor  of  defining  the  extent  to  which  he  had  fallen  short.  The  greatest  of  artists 
cannot  avoid  producing  some  indifferent  works,  for  the  greater  the  artist  the 
more  difficult  are  the  tasks  which  he  sets  himself  to  perform.  Infallibility  is 
the  gift  of  no  mortal  being. 

But  what  a panorama  of  nature  does  this  man  spread  before  you:  land- 
scapes of  autumn,  splendid  in  their  imperial  vestments  of  purple,  crimson, 
and  gold;  the  slumberous  silence  of  midsummer,  brooding  over  drowsing  fields 
and  forests,  in  which  the  very  leaves  have  sunk  to  sleep;  spreading  meadow- 
lands,  with  their  verdure  bejeweled  with  the  dew  of  morning;  nature  by  day 
and  night,  and  at  every  period  of  the  day  or  night;  under  every  joyous,  sad,  or 
tragic  aspect,  at  all  seasons,  in  all  weathers,  in  fertile  valleys,  in  towering 
crags,  splintered  by  the  tempests  of  ages;  or  ironbound  coasts,  whose  cliffs 
tremble  at  the  savage  onsets  of  the  stormy  sea.  Could  mere  painting  convey 
such  an  impression  to  you  ? Could  mere  painting  bring  to  your  nostrils  this 
perfume  of  the  rich  sod,  wet  with  the  softly  descending  rain;  bring  to  your 
ears  the  piping  of  the  robin,  which  salutes  the  dawn  from  its  nest  in  the  road- 

1242] 


I N N E S S 


31 


side  brambles;  bring  to  your  senses  the  languor  of  this  Indian  summer  day, 
in  its  bridal-veil  of  soft  haze  ? Could  mere  mechanical  artifice  send  the  thun- 
der rolling  down  those  hillsides,  deafen  you  with  the  crashing  fall  ol  yonder 
cataract,  or  charm  you  with  the  chime  of  that  spring  rivulet,  released  from 
its  winter  bondage  and  dancing  merrily  over  its  pebbly  bed  ? What  work  of 
hand  and  eye,  soever  cunning,  could  produce  this  sorcery  without  the  direction 
of  a master  sentiment  of  magnetic  power  ? 

“The  true  purpose  of  the  painter,”  according  to  Inness,  “is  simply  to  re- 
produce in  other  minds  the  impression  which  a scene  has  made  upon  him. 
A work  of  art  does  not  appeal  to  the  intellect.  It  does  not  appeal  to  the  moral 
sense.  Its  aim  is  not  to  instruct,  not  to  edify,  but  to  awaken  an  emotion.  This 
emotion  may  be  one  of  love,  of  pity,  of  veneration,  of  hate,  of  pleasure,  or  of 
pain;  but  it  must  be  a single  emotion,  if  the  work  has  unity,  as  every  such 
work  should  have,  and  the  true  beauty  of  the  work  consists  in  the  beauty  of 
the  sentiment  or  emotion  which  it  inspires.  Its  real  greatness  consists  in  the 
quality  and  the  force  of  this  emotion.  Details  in  the  picture  must  be  elab- 
orated only  enough  fully  to  reproduce  the  impression  which  the  artist  wishes 
to  reproduce.  When  more  than  this  is  done  the  impression  is  weakened  or 
lost,  and  we  see  simply  an  array  of  external  things,  which  may  be  very  cleverly 
painted  and  may  look  very  real,  but  which  do  not  make  an  artistic  painting. 
The  effort  and  the  difficulty  of  an  artist  are  to  combine  the  two;  namely,  to 
make  the  thought  clear  and  preserve  the  unity  of  impression.” 

Upon  another  point  he  held:  “There  is  a notion  that  objective  force  is  in- 
consistent with  poetic  representation.  But  this  is  a very  grave  error.  What  is 
often  called  poetry  is  a mere  jingle  of  rhyme  — intellectual  dish-water.  The 
poetic  quality  is  not  obtained  by  eschewing  any  truths  of  fact  or  of  nature 
which  can  be  included  in  a harmony  or  real  representation.  Poetry  is  the 
vision  of  reality.” 

In  these  two  utterances  one  may  discern  a perfectly  simple  and  lucid  ex- 
position of  the  formula  by  which,  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  George  Inness 
had  been  gradually  working  forward  toward  the  results  embodied  in  his 
latest  works.  Reduced  to  a simple  paragraph  it  is:  “Put  just  enough  in  a 
picture  to  present  the  main  theme  without  distracting  attention  from  this 
center  of  interest,  and  take  no  wanton  liberties  with  the  subject  in  order  to 
produce  an  artificial  effect  at  the  expense  of  truth.” 

ELLIOTT  DA1NGERFI  ELD  ‘A  REMINISCENCE  OF  GEORGE  INNESS’ 

FROM  ‘THE  MONTHLY  ILLUSTRATOR’  1895 

NO  reminiscence  of  Inness  would  be  complete  without  some  mention  of 
his  great  power  as  a colorist,  for  all  his  philosophy,  all  his  many- 
sided  nature,  seemed  to  express  itself  in  the  fulness  and  beauty  of  color.  We 
are  not  to  make  comparisons  with  the  work  of  others;  that  were  needless  — 
Inness’s  color  was  his  own.  The  early  morning,  with  its  silver,  tender  tones, 
offered  him  as  great  opportunity  for  the  expression  of  what  he  called  “fulness 
of  color”  as  did  the  open  glare  of  the  noonday  or  the  fiery  bursts  of  sunset. 
Mention  has  been  made  of  his  different  color-moods,  and  one  fairly  held  the 

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32 


MASTERS  I N ART 


breath  to  see  him  spread  with  unrelenting  fury  a broad  scumble  of  orange- 
chrome  over  the  most  delicate,  subtle,  gray  effect,  in  order  to  get  more  “ful- 
ness;” and  still  more  strange  was  it  to  see,  by  a mysterious  technical  use  of 
black  or  blue,  the  same  tender  silver  morning  unfold  itself,  but  stronger, 
firmer,  fuller  in  its  tone-quality.  “One  must  use  pure  color,”  he  would  say; 
“the  picture  must  be  so  constructed  that  the  ‘local’  of  every  color  can  be 
secured,  whether  in  the  shadow  or  the  light.”  Many  of  his  canvases  are  criti- 
cized because  of  an  over-greenness  or  an  intensity  of  the  blues;  but  deeper 
study  shows  the  man’s  principle,  for  which  he  strove  with  the  whole  force  of 
his  nature  — a perfect  balance  of  color-quality  everywhere  in  the  picture. 
The  mass  of  offending  green  will  be  found  to  balance  perfectly  with  the  mass 
of  gray  or  blue  of  the  sky.  So  that  the  whole  canvas,  viewed  with  that  per- 
ceptive power  without  which  there  is  no  justice  in  either  the  criticism  or  the 
critic,  becomes  an  harmonious  balance.  With  all  the  intensity  of  his  powerful 
palette,  Inness  maintained  that  the  “middle  tone”  was  the  secret  of  all  suc- 
cess in  color.  He  strove  for  it  until  the  end,  and  so  great  was  his  effort  that 
the  latest  works  are  but  waves  of  wonderful  color,  marvelous  and  mysterious  — 
the  very  essence  of  the  beauty  of  nature.  When  he  chose  to  put  aside  his 
theories  and  produce  a “tone  study,”  following  the  habit  of  those  masters 
who  have  glorified  modern  French  art,  he  was  as  subtle  as  any  of  them,  and 
far  less  labored;  but  it  is  in  his  very  intensity  that  he  has  preserved  his  indi- 
viduality, and  if  we  are  to  understand  him  aright  we  must  study  him  from 
his  own  standpoint.  In  his  earlier  life  his  drawing  was  precise  and  accurate 
to  a wonderful  degree,  being  elaborated  to  the  very  verge  of  the  horizon. 

In  the  beginning  Inness  strove  for  knowledge  with  most  untiring  effort. 
His  early  pictures  are  full  of  intricate,  elaborate  detail;  ’t  was  thus  he  gained 
that  knowledge  of  forms  which  put  them  at  his  finger-tips.  Always,  however, 
there  was  the  largeness  of  perception  which  enabled  him  to  understand 
masses,  and  divide  his  compositions  into  just  proportions  of  light  and  shade; 
and  under  all  one  saw  the  poet  and  the  philosopher.  Painfully  objective  as 
were  these  early  efforts,  they  were  tasks  along  the  great  highway  which  at 
last  led  him  to  those  heights  whence  he  saw  and  understood  the  subjective  in 
nature,  and  expressed  it  in  his  art. 

Analytical,  profoundly  so,  when  he  chose  to  be,  with  increasing  years  his 
art  grew  more  and  more  synthetic,  and  the  very  latest  works  are  most  so  of 
all,  and  strangely  beautiful  in  the  total  elimination  of  needless  detail  and  sure 
grasp  of  idea.  His  art  became  at  that  time  a sort  of  soul-language,  which,  if 
you  have  not  the  speech,  you  may  not  understand,  but  it  is  none  the  less 
beautiful.  To-day  we  are  at  too  near  a view.  Let  us  await  the  coming  years; 
he  will  then  need  no  defense. 

CHARLES  H.  CAFFIN  ‘THE  STORY  OF  AMERICAN  PAINTING’ 

GEORGE  INNESS  was  a pathfinder  whose  originality  and  fiery  zeal  for 
nature  blazed  a new  trail  that  has  led  on  to  the  present  notable  expan- 
sion of  American  landscape-painting.  . . . 

He  learned,  first  of  all,  that  principle  of  synthesis,  of  selection  and  arrange- 

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33 


ment,  to  which  I have  already  alluded  — that  the  best  art  does  not  consist  in 
representing  everything  in  sight,  but  in  discovering  what  are  the  salient  and 
essential  characteristics,  and  in  setting  these  down  in  a masterly  summary. 
He  learned,  in  effect,  the  value  of  omitting  details  so  as  to  secure  additional 
force  for  the  ensemble;  and  his  previous  rigor  of  minute  study  now  helped  him, 
for  it  is  recognized  among  artists  that  only  he  who  has  learned  to  put  in  can 
be  successful  in  leaving  out. 

He  learned,  in  the  second  place,  a new  motive:  no  longer  to  look  for  “views” 
in  nature,  but  to  study  fragments  of  it  intimately;  to  render  portraits  of  nature, 
in  which  the  local  facts  should  be  of  importance,  not  as  facts,  but  as  vehicles 
of  expression.  It  was  a mood  of  nature,  or  a mood  aroused  in  himself,  that 
he  strove  to  embody;  and,  by  thus  becoming  a subjective  painter,  he  cut 
himself  off  entirely  from  the  objectivity  of  contemporary  landscape.  And  the 
peculiar  quality  of  his  subjective  motive  is  interesting. 

In  his  temperament  the  logical  was  combined  with  the  spiritual.  He  was 
given  to  reasoning  upon  the  eternities,  and  for  many  years  was  a professed 
Swedenborgian.  Thus  he  was  particularly  drawn  toward  Corot,  in  whose 
work  he  recognized  the  spirituality.  In  fact,  Corot  and  Inness  both  approx- 
imated to  what  we  shall  later  find  to  be  one  of  the  underlying  principles  of 
motive  in  Japanese  art.  It  is,  in  effect,  to  distinguish  between  “appearance” 
and  “reality;”  to  regard  the  material  visibilities  of  nature,  subject  as  they  are 
to  change,  as  being  mere  appearance,  while  the  reality  is  the  inward  spirit,  a 
portion  of  the  Universal,  Eternal  Spirit,  that  is  embodied  in  the  impermanent 
appearances  of  matter.  Both  Corot  and  Inness  came  in  time,  like  the  Japa- 
nese painter  Hashimoto  Gaho,  to  discover  for  themselves  a method  of  paint- 
ing in  which  they  carried  the  principle  of  synthesis  as  far  as  possible,  so  as  to 
subordinate  the  assertion  of  form  to  a suggestion  of  its  essence,  or  spirit.  And 
lest  some  reader  have  no  sympathy  with  this  transcendental  attitude  toward 
nature,  I would  remind  him  that,  if  he  is  fond  of  nature,  he  must  have  ex- 
perienced some  occasion  when  to  lie  upon  the  ground  and  let  the  beauty  of 
the  scene,  irrespective  of  this  or  that  feature  of  the  landscape,  soak  into  him 
was  pleasure  enough.  If  so,  it  was  the  result  of  physical  contentment,  leading 
to  a consciousness  of  the  emotions;  and  from  the  latter  to  a consciousness  of 
spiritual  refreshment  or  elation  is  but  a step,  to  many  temperaments  a natural 
and  inevitable  one. 

This  progression  of  Inness’s  motive  and  manner  of  painting,  however,  was 
a gradual  one.  Not  all  at  once  could  he  free  himself  from  the  habit  of  minute 
representation.  His  earliest  pictures  are  liney,  filled  with  details  carefully 
drawn  in  with  the  brush.  Later,  his  style,  of  which  ‘Peace  and  Plenty’  at 
the  Metropolitan  Museum  is  a good  example,  becomes  broader;  he  no  longer 
draws,  but  paints,  with  the  brush;  the  objects  begin  to  count  as  masses.  . . . 

Later  his  pictures  have  still  less  solidity  of  painting;  the  pigment  has  been 
spread  thinlv  with  a large  brush,  and  at  close  range  the  broad,  flat  spaces  of 
color  may  seem  to  be  perfunctory  and  careless.  In  reality,  they  are  a mingling 
of  subtly  differentiated  tones,  pricked  here  and  there  with  an  accent  of  detail; 
and,  when  viewed  from  the  proper  standpoint,  a short  distance  from  the  frame, 

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MASTERS  IN  ART 


are  full  of  meaning  and  suggestion.  These  landscapes  are  the  product  of  a 
mind  that,  in  the  matter  of  painting,  had  freed  itself  from  the  necessity  of 
conscious  intellectual  processes  and  entered  into  liberty  of  spirit,  and  of  a 
hand  become  so  facile  by  practice  that  it  moved  in  immediate  and  faithful 
response  to  the  suggestion  of  the  mind.  They  are  the  expressions,  not  of  what 
is  palpable  and  material,  but  of  an  emotional  or  spiritual  mood. 

JOHN  C.  VAN  DYKE  ‘GEORGE  INNESS,’  FROM  ‘THE  OUTLOOK’  1903 

EVEN  when  he  was  not  bothered  by  many  impressions,  Inness  had  diffi- 
culty in  contenting  himself  with  his  work.  It  was  never  quite  right. 
There  was  a certain  fine  sentiment  or  feeling  that  he  had  about  nature  and 
that  he  wished  to  express  in  his  picture;  but  he  found  that  when  the  sentiment 
was  strong  the  picture  looked  weak  in  the  drawing,  had  no  solidity  or  sub- 
stance; and  when  the  solidity  was  put  in  with  exact  textures  and  precise  lines, 
then  the  sentiment  fared  badly.  Inness  knew  where  the  trouble  lay.  “De- 
tails in  the  picture  must  be  elaborated  only  enough  fully  to  reproduce  the  im- 
pression. When  more  is  done  the  impression  is  weakened  and  lost,  and  we 
see  simply  an  array  of  external  things  which  may  be  very  cleverly  painted 
and  may  look  very  real,  but  which  do  not  make  an  artistic  painting.  The 
effort  and  the  difficulty  of  an  artist  are  to  combine  the  two;  namely,  to  make 
the  thought  clear  and  to  preserve  the  unity  of  impression.  Meissonier  always 
makes  his  thought  clear;  he  is  most  painstaking  with  details;  but  he  some- 
times loses  in  sentiment.  Corot,  on  the  contrary,  is  to  some  minds  lacking  in 
objective  force.  He  tried  for  years  to  get  more  objective  force,  but  he  found 
that  what  he  gained  in  that  respect  he  lost  in  sentiment.” 

This  is  Inness’s  own  statement  of  the  case,  and  if  we  apply  it  we  shall 
understand  why  many  of  his  later  canvases  were  vague,  suggestive,  indefinite, 
often  vapory.  He  was  seeking  to  give  a sentiment,  or  feeling,  rather  than 
topographical  facts.  When  the  canvas  looked  too  weak  he  tried  to  strengthen 
it  here  and  there  by  bringing  out  lines  and  tones  a little  sharper,  and  with  the 
result  of  making  it  look  hard  and  cold.  After  several  passings  back  and  forth 
from  strength  to  weakness,  from  sentiment  to  fact,  the  canvas  began  to  show 
a kneaded  and  thumbed  appearance.  Its  freshness  was  gone  and  its  surface 
tortured.  Inness  was  hardly  ever  free  from  this  balancing  of  motives.  It  is  a 
plague  that  bothers  all  painters,  and  no  doubt  many  of  them  would  agree  with 
Inness  in  saying,  “If  a painter  could  unite  Meissonier’s  careful  reproduction 
of  details  with  Corot’s  inspirational  power  he  would  be  the  very  god  of  art.”.  . . 

It  was  with  color,  light,  and  air  that  Inness  scored  his  greatest  successes. 
Almost  all  of  his  pictures  will  be  found  to  hinge  upon  these  primary  features. 
He  was  very  fond  of  moisture-laden  air,  rain  effects,  clouds  clearing  after 
rain,  rainbows,  mists,  vapors,  fogs,  smokes,  hazes  — all  phases  of  the  atmos- 
phere. In  the  same  way  he  fancied  dawns,  dusks,  twilights,  moonlights,  sun- 
bursts, flying  shadows,  clouded  lights  — all  phases  of  illumination.  And 
again  he  loved  sunset  colors,  cloud  colors,  sky  colors,  autumn  tints,  winter 
blues,  spring  grays,  summer  greens  — all  phases  of  color.  And  these  not  for 
themselves  alone,  but  for  the  impression  or  effect  that  they  produced.  Did  he 

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35 


paint  a moonlight,  it  was  with  a great  spread  of  silvery  radiance,  with  a hushed 
effect,  a still  air,  and  the  mystery  of  things  half  seen;  did  he  paint  an  early 
spring  morning,  it  was  with  vapor  rising  from  the  ground,  dampness  in  the 
air,  voyaging  clouds  and  a warming  blue  in  the  sky;  was  it  an  Indian  summer 
afternoon,  there  was  a drowsy  hum  of  nature  lost  in  dreamland,  and  with  the 
indefinable  regret  of  things  passing  away.  His  ‘Rainy  Day,  Montclair’  has 
the  bend  and  droop  of  saturation  in  earth  and  air,  the  suggestion  of  the  very 
smell  of  rain;  his  ‘Delaware  Water-Gap’  shows  the  drive  of  a storm  down  the 
valley,  with  the  sweep  of  the  wind  felt  in  the  clouds,  the  trees,  and  the  water; 
his  ‘Niagara’  is  not  topographical  in  any  sense,  but  rather  an  impression  of 
the  clouds  of  mist  and  vapor  boiling  up  from  the  great  caldron,  and  struck  into 
color-splendor  by  the  sunlight. 

Every  feature  of  landscape  had  its  peculiar  sentiment  for  Inness.  He  said 
so  often  enough  and  with  no  uncertain  voice.  Here  is  one  of  his  utterances 
about  it:  “Some  persons  suppose  that  landscape  has  no  power  of  conveying 
human  sentiment.  But  this  is  a great  mistake.  The  civilized  landscape 
peculiarly  can;  and  therefore  I love  it  more  and  think  it  more  worthy  of  re- 
production than  that  which  is  savage  and  untamed.  It  is  more  significant.” 

That  last  passage  about  the  “civilized  landscape”  is  well  worth  noting, 
because  this  was  exactly  the  landscape  that  Inness  painted.  His  subjects  are 
related  to  human  life,  and  possibly  our  interest  in  his  pictures  is  due  to  the 
fact  that  he  shows  thoughts,  emotions,  and  sensations  comprehensible  of 
humanity.  He  tells  things  that  every  one  may  have  thought  but  no  one  be- 
fore him  so  well  expressed.  In  other  words,  he  brings  our  own  familiar  land- 
scape home  to  us  with  truth  and  beauty.  This,  it  may  be  presumed,  is  the 
function  of  the  poet  and  painter  in  any  land.  It  was  the  quality  that  made 
Dante  and  Goethe  great,  and  may  account  for  the  fame  of  Hobbema,  Con- 
stable, Daubigny  — yes,  and  Inness.  . . . 

Had  Inness  been  born  in  France,  no  doubt  he  would  have  been  a member 
of  the  Rousseau-Dupre  group.  But  the  point  is  worth  emphasizing  that  he 
did  not  belong  to  that  group,  that  he  did  not  follow  them  or  copy  them  in 
any  way.  The  aim  was  a common  one,  in  that  they  all  opposed  the  spectacular 
landscape  in  favor  of  “the  civilized  landscape;”  but  Inness,  for  his  part,  did 
not  work  after  the  French  formulas.  His  manner  was  not  that  of  Rousseau 
or  Corot  ot  Daubigny,  but  of  Inness.  The  theme,  the  work,  and  the  worker 
were  all  original,  all  of  the  soil,  and  all  sufficient  unto  the  designed  purpose. 


Cfit  ?£orfcs  of  3fancss 

DESCRIPTIONS  OF  THE  PLATES 

‘PEACE  AND  PLENTY’  PLATE  I 

THIS  gift  of  Mr.  George  A.  Hearn  to  the  Metropolitan  Museum  is  one 
of  the  earliest  canvases  by  the  hand  of  Inness  remaining.  The  existence 
of  none  of  his  works  previous  to  those  painted  in  the  sixties  is  known  to-day. 

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MASTERS  IN  ART 


Doubtless  they  were  sold  to  unknown  persons  and  lost  to  view,  or  were  painted 
over  in  later  years  by  the  artist  himself.  In  its  elaboration  of  detail  this  pic- 
ture is  characteristic  of  Inness’s  early  work. 

Mr.  Caffin  describes  it  as  follows:  “Painted  as  early  as  1865,  this  picture, 
seventy-seven  inches  high  and  one  hundred  and  twelve  wide,  still  shows  a 
fondness  for  extended  views  and  an  analytical  regard  for  details,  character- 
istic of  the  ‘Hudson  River  school.’  But  it  also  exhibits  a mastery  over  the 
rendering  of  the  forms  of  nature  which,  when  the  artist  had  learned  the  value 
of  synthesis,  enabled  him  to  suggest  the  forms  with  so  pregnant  an  economy 
of  means.  In  the  evening  glow  that  pervades  the  picture  there  is  already  a 
foretaste  of  the  spirituality  of  the  artist’s  later  work.”  In  another  connection 
the  same  author  writes:  “Notwithstanding  the  large  size  of  the  canvas  and 
the  multiplying  of  features,  which  prevent  us  grasping  the  scene  as  a whole, 
the  impression  which  it  produces  on  the  imagination  is  a tolerably  single  one, 
very  well  summed  up  in  the  title.  It  is  a notable  step  in  the  direction  of  render- 
ing the  expression  of  the  landscape.” 

A writer  in  the  ‘Art  Amateur’  says:  “A  very  characteristic  example  of  the 
painter  is  ‘Peace  and  Plenty,’  the  glowing  canvas  which  Mr.  Hearn  has  just 
presented  to  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art.  The  expansive  New  England 
landscape  is  spanned  by  a rainbow,  and  it  may  give  some  idea  of  the  painter’s 
method  to  say  that  while  the  colors  of  the  rainbow  are  not  altogether  those  of 
nature,  it  has  a natural  effect,  owing  to  the  clever  management  of  contrasting 
tones  in  the  sky  and  landscape.” 

‘THE  DELAWARE  VALLEY’  PLATE  II 

THIS  canvas,  which  probably  represents  the  best  work  of  Inness  during 
the  sixties,  is  thus  described  by  the  Art  Sale  Catalogue  of  Thomas  B. 
Clarke’s  Collection:  “Magnificent  in  its  vastness  and  in  the  fertility  of  its 
soils,  bursting  with  that  wealth  of  fruit  and  harvest  which  nature  bestows  in 
her  most  bounteous  mood,  the  great  valley  of  one  of  the  great  rivers  of  America 
loses  itself  in  a distance  gray  with  showers.  On  either  hand  its  mountain 
walls  rise  to  the  clouds  whose  lower  lying  vapors  curl  along  their  forest-clad 
flanks,  as  if  to  interpose  themselves  as  barriers  between  the  tempest  and  the 
land  of  peace  and  plenty  committed  to  their  guardianship.  The  valley  offers 
an  endless  variety  of  farm  and  pasture,  orchards,  and  fields  in  which  the 
golden  grain  is  falling  before  the  reaper.  At  the  left,  along  the  road  which 
ascends  into  the  elevated  foreground,  a hay-wagon  mounts,  and  behind  the 
trees  which  shade  the  road  is  seen  the  roof  of  a hillside  farm.  The  picture 
breathes  the  glorious  spirit  of  the  ripened  season,  intoxicated  with  the  per- 
fume of  fruit  and  the  splendid  strength  of  an  earth  rioting  in  its  own  richness. 
The  color  is  of  a ringing  resonance  of  force  and  harmony,  and  the  handling 
instinct  with  nervous  power.” 

Mr.  Schuyler,  writing  of  Inness  in  the  ‘ Forum,’  says:  “ It  was  in  his  defini- 
tion of  a picture  always,  both  in  theory  and  practice,  that  it  should  compre- 
hend only  what  could  be  seen  all  at  once;  and  this  definition  of  itself  almost 
excludes  the  panorama.  I know  scarcely  another  ‘view,’  in  the  sense  of  the 

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37 


tourist  or  the  older  American  painter,  among  all  his  works,  than  the  ‘ Delaware 
Valley’  in  Mr.  Clarke’s  collection;  and  this  picture  is  saved  from  being  a 
panorama  not  only  by  the  moderate  dimensions  of  the  canvas,  but  by  the 
unification  of  the  picture  through  ‘tone,’  so  that  it  becomes  ‘possible’ — to 
use  the  painter’s  own  phrase — ‘to  unity  of  vision,’  and  thus  falls  within  his 
own  definition  of  a picture.” 

This  canvas  was  purchased  by  several  gentlemen  at  the  Thomas  B.  Clarke 
sale  for  ten  thousand  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars,  and  presented  to  the 
Metropolitan  Museum.  It  is  signed  and  dated,  1867,  and  measures  only 
twenty-one  inches  high  by  thirty  wide. 

‘SUNSET,  ETRETAT’  PLATE  III 

THIS  canvas  doubtless  follows  in  chronological  order  those  of  ‘Peace 
and  Plenty’  and  ‘The  Delaware  Valley.’  It  was  painted  late  in  the 
sixties,  when  the  artist  visited  the  picturesque  northern  coast  of  France.  It 
depicts  one  end  of  the  curving  beach  at  Etretat,  with  its  many  cliffs  and 
curious  arch  of  rock,  through  which  is  seen  one  of  the  pointed  “needles” 
peculiar  to  this  coast,  just  as  the  sun  sinks  below  the  western  horizon.  Against 
the  sky-line  a large  vessel,  and  in  the  middle  distance  a smaller  sailing-ship, 
are  hastening  to  port,  while  in  the  foreground  a fisherman  is  dragging  in  his 
net  and  a dismantled  boat  is  drawn  up  on  the  flat  rocks.  The  clouds  are 
gathering  overhead,  but  the  sun  is  setting  in  a clear  sky,  illuminating  every 
object,  sky,  rocks,  and  surf,  with  a roseate  glow. 

The  picture  measures  about  two  by  three  feet,  and  is  in  the  collection  of 
Messrs.  R.  C.  and  N.  M.  Vose,  of  Boston. 

‘THE  ALBAN  HILLS’  PLATE  IV 

THIS  picture  was  painted  by  Inness  in  1875,  towards  the  end  of  his  five 
years’  stay  in  Rome.  In  the  immediate  foreground  are  some  shepherds 
with  their  flocks,  while  other  figures  are  disappearing  down  the  path  which 
opens  under  the  spreading  boughs  of  the  gray-green  olive-trees  of  Italy. 
Further  on  the  left  are  ruins  on  the  slopes  of  the  Alban  Hills,  and  to  the  right 
an  extended  view  of  the  rolling  Campagna,  dotted  with  ruins  and  covered 
with  a soft  haze  as  it  stretches  away  westward  for  twenty  miles  to  Rome  and 
the  Mediterranean  ■ — a view  inspiring  both  for  its  beauty  and  associations 
and  dear  to  all  who  know  the  country  around  Rome,  and  whose  spirit  Inness 
has  most  lovingly  caught  and  perpetuated  upon  his  canvas. 

The  Art  Museum  of  Worcester  came  into  the  possession  of  this  picture 
through  purchase  in  1906,  and  speaks  of  it  in  its  catalogue  as,  “A  very  fine 
specimen  of  the  work  of  one  of  our  greatest  landscape-painters.”  It  is  signed 
and  dated,  “Rome,  1875,”  and  measures  thirty  by  forty-five  inches,  which 
were  favorite  dimensions  with  Inness. 

‘SUMMER,  MEDFIELD,  MASSACHUSETTS’  PLATE  V 

WE  have  in  this  picture  a typical  New  England  scene.  Its  inspiration 
came  from  the  countryside  around  Medfield,  Massachusetts,  a few 
miles  southwest  of  Boston,  where  Inness  lived  for  a number  of  years.  This 

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picture,  however,  was  painted  in  1877,  the  year  after  his  return  from  his  pro- 
longed stay  abroad,  and  immediately  before  his  removal  to  New  York. 

The  composition  shows  us  a snug  farmhouse  set  by  the  borders  of  a little 
stream,  with  green  pastures  and  a hillside  beyond,  and  a far  distant  view  on 
our  left.  The  forms  of  the  trees  are  so  faithfully  rendered  that  one  is  in  no 
doubt  as  to  their  species  and  character  — the  tall  cypress  and  scrawny  apple 
trees  clustering  about  the  farmhouse  door,  the  fine  specimens  of  American 
elms  occupying  nearly  the  center  of  the  canvas,  the  bending  willows  by  the 
river’s  border,  and  the  noble  maple, standing  solitary  on  the  further  side  of  the 
river,  where  the  cows  are  grazing  in  the  lush  grass.  The  air  is  hazy,  and  the 
few  soft  clouds  touched  with  pink.  One  can  feel  the  hot,  stifling  atmosphere, 
where  not  a leaf  quivers,  which  seems  to  precede  the  thunder-storm  suggested 
by  the  increasing  blackness  of  the  sky  on  the  horizon.  When  this  canvas  was 
exhibited  in  Boston,  at  the  same  time  as  ‘The  Goose  Girl,’  the  critic  of  the 
‘Transcript’  spoke  of  this  picture  as  “representing  a sweet,  pastoral  scene  in 
Medfield.  This  latter  is  a typical  Inness,  with  a charming  variety  of  juicy 
green  tones,  a soft  and  winning  atmosphere,  and  a vaporous  and  filmy  sky. 
In  this  work  is  felt  the  promise  and  germ  of  that  mature  and  lofty  style  which 
came  to  its  acme  in  the  eighties,  the  period  of  the  famous  ‘Gray,  Lowery 
Day.’” 

This  picture  belongs  now  to  Mr.  Charles  H.  Paine,  of  Boston,  and  is  at 
present  on  exhibition  in  the  Museum  of  Fine  Arts  of  that  city.  It  measures 
about  two  by  three  fee t. 

‘THE  CLOSE  OF  DAY*  PLATE  VI 

THE  artist  has  painted  for  us  another  landscape  at  sundown,  as  the  title 
of  the  picture  would  indicate,  only  here  we  have  a lake  with  wooded 
shores  and  hills  beyond.  In  the  foreground  is  a tall  elm,  its  trunk  overgrown 
with  creepers.  Beyond  this  rises  a spruce,  and  on  the  hither  bank  lie  the 
gnarled  trunks  of  fallen  trees.  The  charm  of  the  picture  lies  in  the  brilliant 
light  from  the  setting  sun,  which  is  strongly  reflected  in  lake  and  sky,  forming 
the  high-light  of  the  picture,  the  tones  in  cloud  and  landscape  deepening 
towards  the  edges.  The  treatment  of  light  in  this  picture  is  somewhat  sug- 
gestive of  work  by  Turner. 

This  canvas,  together  with  a landscape  by  William  Norris  Hunt,  entitled 
‘Newbury  Pastures,’  was  loaned  by  Mr.  Walter  S.  Ballou,  of  Providence, 
Rhode  Island,  to  the  Semi-Centennial  Exhibition  of  the  Boston  Art  Club, 
held  in  its  club-rooms  in  November,  1904.  Mr.  William  Howe  Downes, 
writing  for  the  Boston  ‘Transcript,’  alter  highly  praising  the  bleak  skies  and 
brown  pastures  of  autumn  in  Mr.  Hunt’s  picture,  says:  “The  landscape  by 
Inness,  which  is  in  almost  direct  opposition  to  the  Hunt  in  sentiment,  tone, 
and  style,  is  also  a notable  and  poetical  American  work.  It  was  painted  at 
Medfield,  Massachusetts,  and  the  hill  in  the  distance  is  known  as  Noon  Hill. 
Noon  Hill  was  a great  resort  of  the  Indians,  and  the  artist  has  introduced  an 
Indian  crossing  the  pond  in  a canoe.  The  sunset,  warm,  glowing,  and  magnifi- 
cent, is  rendered  with  a loving,  ardent,  and  romantic  touch.  It  is  like  a fine 
work  by  Jules  Dupre,  and  it  is  also  something  like  a fine  work  by  Richard 

[250] 


I N N E S S 


39 


Wilson.  It  is  essentially  a lovable  picture,  one  that  would  be  good  to  ‘live 
with,’  to  dream  over,  and  to  cherish  as  a treasure.” 

‘THE  GOOSE  GIRL’  PLATE  VII 

THIS  picture  was  painted  when  Inness  was  at  the  height  of  his  powers. 

It  represents  a hilly  landscape  with  a low-roofed  cottage,  and  houses 
showing  white  through  the  trees.  On  a grassy  hdlock  in  the  foreground  sits 
a girl  reading  a book,  with  her  flock  of  geese  feeding  around  her.  The  cap, 
sleeve,  and  book  of  the  girl,  as  well  as  the  geese,  catch  the  high  light  reflected 
from  a white  sky,  while  on  the  extreme  right  of  the  picture  clouds  of  mist  are 
sweeping  down  the  hillside.  The  landscape  is  painted  in  the  artist’s  latest 
manner,  a manner  more  synthetic  than  that  of  many  of  his  earlier  pictures; 
that  is,  he  has  attempted  to  give  one  impression,  that  of  a hit  of  landscape 
where  the  air  is  saturated  with  moisture,  rather  than  many  details,  and  we 
notice  that  the  general  appearance  of  the  trees  is  indicated  rather  than  their 
actual  forms  given. 

When  this  picture  was  exhibited,  in  1900,  at  Messrs.  Vose’s  Galleries  in 
Boston,  the  following  eulogy  of  it  appeared  in  the  ‘Transcript:’  “‘The  Goose 
Girl’  belongs  to  the  great  period,  that  of  the  ‘Gray,  Lowery  Day,’  when  Inness 
was  at  the  very  summit  of  his  power.  There  is  more  of  himself  in  this  small 
canvas  than  in  any  other  of  its  size  that  we  know.  If  one  would  know  Inness, 
estimate  him  as  a painter,  and  appreciate  what  he  stood  for  in  American  art, 
it  is  enough  to  look  at  this  picture,  so  rich  in  impulsive  feeling,  so  prodigal 
of  beauty,  so  full  of  urgent,  keen,  abounding  life  and  sensibility.  The  freedom 
and  breadth  of  his  style  had  at  that  time  become  a second  nature,  and  he 
expressed  himself  without  apparent  effort.  It  is  a great  picture,  and  a signal 
manifestation  of  genius.” 

It  belongs  now  to  Mr.  Edward  D.  Libbey,  of  Toledo,  Ohio,  and  is  signed 
and  dated,  1877. 

‘THE  COMING  STORM’  PLATE  V1I1 

INNESS  painted  at  least  three  pictures  with  this  title  — one  of  small  dimen- 
sions, belonging  to  his  first  period,  dated  1865,  which  in  all  probability 
served  as  a study  for  the  original  of  this  plate,  painted  thirteen  years  later, 
when  the  artist  was  at  his  best;  and  a third  canvas  of  large  dimensions,  five 
by  ten  feet,  painted  only  three  years  before  his  death,  and  which  was  found 
among  his  effects. 

Like  most  of  the  canvases  painted  in  the  late  seventies,  the  treatment  of 
this  picture  is  synthetic  rather  than  detailed.  We  have  here  a summer  land- 
scape, a well-watered  pasture-land  in  the  foreground,  where  cows  are  grazing, 
with  woods  and  moorlands  fading  into  the  distance.  Black  clouds  are  rolling 
across  the  sky  and  are  in  part  obscuring  the  landscape,  for  the  storm  has 
already  broken  upon  the  horizon  and  is  coming  rapidly  towards  us,  although 
the  sunlight  still  falls  on  the  meadows.  The  artist  has  well  shown  the  violent 
swaying  of  the  branches  of  the  trees  just  at  the  moment  before  the  storm 
strikes  them. 

This  picture  was  purchased  in  1900  by  the  Buffalo  Academy  of  Fine  Arts, 

[251] 


40 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


with  the  income  of  the  Albert  Haller  Tracy  Fund.  It  is  signed  and  dated, 
1878. 

‘GEORGIA  PI  NE  S , A FTE  R N OO  N 1886’  PLATE  IX 

THIS  beautiful  picture  belonged  to  the  collection  of  William  T.  Evans, 
which  was  offered  for  sale  in  1900.  It  was  described  in  the  catalogue  as 
follows:  “Of  this  great  work,  a masterpiece  of  landscape-painting,  it  is  re- 
corded that  George  Inness  gave  it  to  his  wife,  with  the  remark  that  it  was  his 
best  picture.  As  the  title  shows,  it  was  painted  in  1886,  when  the  artist  was  in 
the  full  vigor  of  his  power  and  maturity  of  his  achievement.  A broad  expanse 
of  bottomlands  fills  the  foreground.  On  the  right  are  the  pines,  with  straight 
trunks  and  massive  tops;  on  the  left,  a house  and  thicket.  In  the  distance  the 
country  is  lighted  up  by  straggling  sunshine.  The  sky,  clear  and  blue  at  the 
horizon,  is  covered  with  clouds  above,  one  great  mass  of  white  appearing  just 
to  the  left  of  the  pine-trees.  The  predominating  color-notes  are  the  greens  of 
the  foreground  and  the  pine-trees,  the  blue  of  the  sky,  and  the  white  and 
gray  of  the  clouds.  These  tints,  cool  and  intense  in  quality,  are  combined  with 
a wonderful  sense  of  sympathetic  harmony  into  an  ensemble  of  the  greatest 
distinction  and  beauty.” 

This  picture  was  bought  by  Mr.  R.  D.  Evans,  of  Boston,  for  five  thousand 
nine  hundred  dollars,  and  measures  exactly  two  by  three  feet. 

‘THE  CLOUDED  SUN’  PLATE  X 

THE  original  of  this  plate  formed  another  of  the  Thomas  B.  Clarke  Col- 
lection, which  was  put  up  at  auction  in  1899,  and  is  thus  described  in  the 
sale  catalogue:  “A  tranquil  scene  expressed  with  deep  poetic  sentiment.  A 
valley  stretches  off  to  low,  distant  hills,  and  from  the  foreground  a stone  wall 
runs  towards  a farmhouse.  On  the  right  are  several  trees  and  outbuildings, 
with  some  cattle,  and  on  the  left  are  a few  houses.  A figure  of  a woman  is 
vaguely  indicated,  and  some  crows  are  dotted  in  to  the  right.  The  color  is  in 
subdued  yellows,  very  beautiful  in  tint  and  very  subtle  in  gradations.  Pale 
sunshine  is  spread  over  the  middle  distance,  where  a river  is  seen  winding  its 
way  through  the  country,  and  soft,  enveloping  atmosphere  gives  subtle  deli- 
cacy to  the  composition.” 

The  Carnegie  Institute  purchased  this  picture  in  1899  for  six  thousand 
one  hundred  dollars.  It  is  signed  at  the  right,  and  dated,  1891.  It  measures 
thirty  inches  high  by  forty-five  wide. 

A LIST  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  PAINTINGS  BY  GEORGE  INNESS 
IN  PUBLIC  COLLECTIONS 

GERMANY.  Munich,  Neue  Pinakothek:  Sunrise — UNITED  STATES.  Bos- 
ton, Museum  of  Fine  Arts:  The  Rising  Storm  — Brooklyn,  Long  Island  His- 
torical Society:  The  Old  Roadway  — Buffalo,  Academy  of  Fine  Arts:  The 
Coming  Storm  (Plate  vm)  — Chicago,  Art  Institute:  Landscape,  Sunset  — New  York, 
Metropolitan  Museum:  Peace  and  Plenty  (Plate  1);  The  Delaware  Valley  (Plate  11); 
Pine  Grove  of  the  Barberini  Villa,  Albano,  Italy;  Autumn  Oaks;  Evening — New  York, 

[2521 


I N N E S S 


41 


Century  Club:  Looking  over  the  Valley — New  York,  Union  League  Club:  Cal- 
ifornia— Philadelphia,  Wilstach  Collection,  Fairmount  Park:  Short  Cut, 
Watchung  Station,  N.  J. — Pittsburgh,  Carnegie  Institute:  The  Clouded  Sun 
(Plate  x)  — Washington,  Corcoran  Art  Gallery:  Sunset  in  the  Woods;  Landscape 
— Worcester,  Art  Museum:  The  Alban  Hills  (Plate  iv). 

in  private  collections 

THIS  list  is  necessarily  incomplete,  as  it  is  impossible  to  trace  all  pictures  in  private 
collections.  Early  in  1895  the  Halstead  and  Executors’  Public  Sales  of  Pictures  by 
Inness  took  place;  in  1899  and  1900,  respectively,  the  Thomas  B.  Clarke  and  William 
T.  Evans  Sales,  both  of  which  contained  many  canvases  by  Inness;  and  from  the  four  sales 
the  following  list  is  in  large  part  compiled. 

BOSTON,  R.  D.  Evans:  The  Georgia  Pines  (Plate  ix);  — Boston,  Miss  C.  H. 

Hersey:  Lake  Nemi — Boston,  C.  H.  Paine:  Summer,  Medfield,  Mass.  (Plate  v); 
The  Crucifixion  — Boston,  F.  B.  Sprague:  The  Squall  near  Leeds,  N.  Y.  — Boston, 
R.  C.  and  N.  M.  Vose:  Sunset,  Etretat,  Normandy  (Plate  m);  Summer,  Montclair; 
Alexandria  Bay;  Early  Spring,  the  Palisades;  North  Conway,  N.  H.;  The  Fisher-Newell 
Homestead,  Medfield,  Mass. — Boston,  R.  H.  White:  The  Coming  Storm  in  the 
Catskill  Mountains  — Buffalo,  J.  J.  Albright:  Sunset;  Summer,  Montclair — Buf- 
falo, Mrs.  P .Morton:  November,  Montclair  — Buffalo,  G.  Carey:  The  Afterglow 
— Chicago,  J.  W.  Ellsworth:  Early  Moonrise,  Florida;  Midsummer;  Summer  Silence 
— Chicago,  M.  A.  Ryerson:  Rosy  Morning;  Moonlight  on  Passamaquoddy  Bay;  Old 
Elm  at  Medfield,  Mass.;  Hillside  — Chicago,  C.  L.  Hutchinson:  The  Afterglow; 
Eagleswood,  N.  J.  — Pittsburgh,  Mrs.  W.  Thaw:  The  Coming  Shower;  Tenafly 
Oaks;  The  Clearing;  Sacred  Grove  near  Rome,  Italy  — Providence,  R.  I.,  W.  S. 
Ballou:  The  Close  of  Day  (Plate  vi) — Providence,  R.  I.,  Mrs.  J.  C.  Ely:  The 
Sacred  Grove  of  Egeria  — Toledo,  O.,  E.  E.  Libbey:  The  Goose  Girl  (Plate  vn)  — 
Worcester,  Mass.,  F.  A.  Gaskill:  Souvenir  of  Italy  — New  York  and  Elsewhere, 
A.  H Alker:  Moonrise;  September  Noon;  Lighthouse,  Nantucket  — S.  P.  Avery,  Jr.: 
A Breezy  Day;  Autumn;  November,  Montclair;  Albano,  Italy;  A Cloudy  Day;  Winter 
Evening,  Montclair;  A Glimpse  of  the  Hudson  at  Milton;  Autumn  Afternoon- — J.  S. 
Bache:  Summer  Foliage  — E.  W.  Bass:  The  Sun’s  Last  Reflection;  Early  Morning, 
Montclair — C.  J.  Blair:  A Sunny  Autumn  Day  — R.  Blum:  Afternoon  Glow,  Pomp- 
ton,  N.  J. — G.  Blumenthai,:  Twilight — F.  Bonner:  Spring  Blossoms,  Montclair- — - 
C.  F.  Butterfield:  A Breezy  Autumn;  The  Passing  Storm — -Mrs.  C.  P.  Cheney: 
Autumn,  near  Marshfield,  Mass.  — Mrs.  B.  P.  Cheney:  New  England  Valley  — A.  C. 
Clarke:  The  Beeches — C.  E.  Clarke:  The  Red  Oaks — A.  C.  Converse:  September 
Afternoon— J.  D.  Crimmins:  Off  the  Coast  of  Cornwall,  England;  Glimpse  of  the 
Campagna  from  Albano,  Italy  — C.  H.  De  Silver:  Old  Oak,  Lyndhurst,  New  Forest  — 
L.  Ettlinger:  An  Autumn  Sunset;  fltretat,  Normandy,  France  — G.  W.  Elkins: 
Sunset  at  fitretat,  Normandy  — C.  C.  Glover:  Winter  Morning,  Montclair — C.  W. 
Gould:  Edge  of  the  Forest — W.  H.  Granberry:  A Silver  Morning;  Tarpon  Springs, 
Florida  — G.  A.  Hearn:  The  Wood-gatherers;  The  Berkshire  Hills  — E.  Kearney: 
Sunlit  Valley — L.  Kellogg:  Autumn  Silence  — W.  M.  Laffan  : Valley  of  the  Olive- 
trees — W.  V.  Lawrence:  After  Sundown  — W.  R.Linn:  Summer  Evening,  Montclair 
— L.  Marshall:  End  of  the  Rain  — J.  M.  Martin:  Tarpon  Springs,  Florida  — C.  J. 
McCormick:  The  Lonely  Pine,  Sunset;  Rainy  Day;  Cloudy  Day  near  Milton;  Autumn 
— E.  McMillan:  Path  through  the  Florida  Pines;  The  Mill  Pond;  After  a Summer 
Shower;  Threatening  — E.  M acMillin : Summer  in  the  Catskills;  In  the  Valley  — O.  R . 
Meyer:  Sunset  on  the  Passaic  — G.  E.  Morris:  Nine  O’clock  — F.  Murphy:  Near  the 
Village  — G.  Pope-.  Montclair  by  Moonlight — W.  A.  Putnam:  Sunrise- — J.  Quinlan: 
Brush  Burning- — H.  Sampson:  White  Mountain  Valley;  The  Gray,  Lowery  Day; 
Artist's  Brook,  North  Conway;  The  Old  Apple-tree  — J.  R.  Schiff:  Twilight  in  Flor- 
ida— F.  S.  Smithers:  Harvest  Moon  — G.  E.  Tewksbury:  Sundown;  Late  Sunset; 

[253] 


42 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


The  Lonely  Farm,  Nantucket  — J.  R.  Thomas:  Sunset  in  the  Old  Orchard  — J.  R. 
Walters:  Autumn  Gold  — J.  C.  Welles:  St.  Andrews,  N.  B.  — W.  C.  White: 
Sunrise  — Other  canvases,  owners  and  location  unknown:  An  American  Sunset; 
Light  Triumphant;  The  New  Jerusalem;  View  of  Mt.  Washington;  View  near  Rome; 
Scene  near  Perugia;  Pontine  Marshes;  Mountain  Stream;  The  Homestead;  St.  Peter’s, 
Rome,  from  the  Tiber;  View  near  Medfield,  Mass.;  Loitering;  Morning  Sun;  Niagara 
Falls;  Day  in  June;  Delaware  Water-Gap;  Medfield  Meadows;  Under  the  Greenwood; 
A Summer  Morning;  Durham  Meadows;  Close  of  a Stormy  Day. 


fitness  JStbltograpijp 

A LIST  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  BOOKS  AND  MAGAZINE  ARTICLES 
DEALING  WITH  GEORGE  INNESS 

APPLETON’S.  Annual  Cyclopaedia  for  1894.  New  York,  1895  — Benjamin, 
- S.  G.  W.  Art  in  America.  New  York,  1880  — Caffin,  C.  H.  American  Mas- 
ters of  Painting.  New  York,  1902  — Caffin,  C.  H.  The  Story  of  American  Painting. 
New  York,  1907 — Champlin,  J.  D.,  and  Perkins,  C.  C.  Cyclopaedia  of  Painters  and 
Paintings.  New  York,  1886  — Coffin,  W.  A.  (in  the  Catalogue  of  the  Sale  of  the  Pri- 
vate Art  Collection  of  Thomas  B.  Clarke).  New  York,  1899  — Cook,  C.  Art  and 
Artists  of  Our  Time.  New  York,  1880  — Downes,  W.  H.  Twelve  Great  Artists. 
Boston,  1900  — Hartmann,  S.  C.  A History  of  American  Art.  Boston,  190a  — The 
International  Encyclopaedia.  New  York,  1906 — Tsham,  S.  The  History  of  American 
Painting.  New  York,  1905 — Jarves,  J.  J.  The  Art  Idea.  New  York,  1864  — 
McSpaddin,  J.  W.  Famous  Painters  of  America.  New  York,  1907  — Muther,  R. 
The  History  of  Modern  Painting.  New  York,  1895 — Sheldon,  G.  W.  American 
Painters;  with  eighty-three  examples  of  their  work.  New  York,  1879  — Sheldon,  G.  W. 
Recent  Ideals  of  American  Art.  New  York,  1S88 — Tuckerman,  H.  T.  Book  of  the 
Artists.  New  York,  1867 — Trumble,  A.  George  Inness:  A Memorial.  New  York, 
1895 — -Van  Dyke,  J.  C.  (in  Encyclopaedia  Britannica  Supplement).  Edinburgh,  1902 — - 
Van  Dyke,  J.  C.  The  History  of  Painting.  New  York,  1899  — Wiley,  E.  The  Old 
and  New  Renaissance.  A Group  of  Studies  in  Art  and  Letters.  Nashville,  1903. 

magazine  articles 

CENTURY,  1882:  H.  Eckford;  George  Inness.  1895:  G.  W.  Sheldon;  Characteris- 
tics of  George  Inness — -Critic,  1894:  Anonymous;  Account  of  the  Exhibition  of 
Paintings  by  the  late  George  Inness — Forum,  1894:  M.  Schuyler;  George  Inness,  the 
Man  and  His  Work  — -Harper’s  Monthly,  1878:  Anonymous;  A Painter  on  Painting. 
1903:  W.  S.  Howard;  The  Wood-gatherers  — Harper’s  Weekly,  1898:  Bust  by 

J.  S.  Hartley  — Die  Kunst,  1906:  C.  Ruge;  Moderne  Amerikanische  Maler  — Monthly 
Illustrator,  1895:  E.  Daingerfield;  A Reminiscence  of  George  Inness — New  Eng- 
land, 1S96:  W.  H.  Downes  and  F.  T.  Robinson;  Later  American  Masters  — Outlook, 
1903:  J.  C.  Van  Dyke;  George  Inness. 


[254] 


MASTERS  IN  ART 


A PAINTING 
worth  a frame  is 
certainly  deserving 
of  good  light 

Let  us  send  you  information  about  our  in- 
dividual picture  reflectors,  made  to  give  in  the 
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art  gallery.  The  use  of  our  reflector  on  one 
painting  has  invariably  led  to  orders  for  light- 
ing other  paintings. 


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MASTERS  IN  ART 


THE 

MADONNA 

By  Ph  ilip  L.  Hale 


A CRITICAL  analysis  of  the  way  the  master  painters  have  pictured 
the  Madonna,  together  with  a short  historical  sketch  of  the  devel- 
opment of  this  great  religious  art  subject.  The  author,  Mr.  Philip  L. 
Hale,  himself  a painter,  is  one  of  the  ablest  writers  on  art  in  this  country. 
The  text  is  illustrated  by  twenty  full-page  plates,  a list  of  which  is  given 
below.  These  plates  are  of  the  highest  quality,  and  in  point  of  depth 
and  richness  of  color  and  clearness  of  detail  are  not  surpassed  by  any 
reproductions  of  the  same  size.  The  page  measures  8 x 11  inches. 
No  pains  have  been  spared  to  make  this  a desirable  acquisition  to  every 
art  lover’s  library ; as  a gift-book  it  is  especially  appropriate. 


LIST  OF 


The  Sistine  Madonna Raphael 

Royal  Gallery,  Dresden 

Madonna  of  the  Chair Raphael 

Pitti  Palace,  Florence 

Madonna  of  the  House  of  Ai.ba  . Raphael 
The  Hermitage,  St.  Petersburg 
Virgin  of  the  Rocks  . . Leonardo  da  Vinci 

Louvre,  Paris 

The  Assumption  of  the  Virgin  . . . Titian 

The  Academy,  Venice 


St.  Anne,  the  Virgin,  and  the  Christ- 

Child  Leonardo  da  Vinci 

Louvre  Paris 

The  Virgin  Adoring  the  Christ-Child 

Correggio 

Uffizi  Gallery,  Florence 


Madonna  of  the  Sack Del  Sarto 

Church  of  the  Annunziata,  Florence 
The  Immaculate  Conception  . . . Murillo 

Louvre,  Paris 

Virgin  and  Child Crivelli 


Brera  Gallery,  Milan 


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Madonna  with  the  Cherries  ....  Titian 
Imperial  Gallery,  Vienna 
Madonna  of  the  Pesaro  Family  . . . Titian 

Church  of  the  Frari,  Venice 
The  Nativity  (“  The  Night”)  . . .Correggio 

Royal  Gallery,  Dresden 

The  Meyer  Madonna  Holbein  the  Younger 
GrancTDucal  Palace,  Darmstadt 
The  Madonna  of  Castelfranco  . . Giorgione 
Castelfranco  Cathedral 

The  Madonna  of  the  Two  Trees  . . . Bellini 

Academy,  Venice 

The  Vow  of  Louis  XIII Ingres 

Cathedral,  Montauban 

Coronation  of  the  Virgin  ....  Botticelli 
Uffizi  Gallery,  Florence 
Madonna  and  Child  with  Two  Angels, 

Fra  Filippo  Lippi 
Uffizi  Gallery,  Florence 

The  Madonna  and  Three  Dominican  Saints, 

Tiepolo 

Church  of  the  Gesuati,  Venice 


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